Thief-proof satchel.



,8. ROTl. rHIEP Hoor susan., PLIGATIOH FILED vLUG. 7, 1913'.

1, 1 1 9,1 93. Patentd Dech 1,' 1914;`

@uw nto UNITED STATES PATENT o ron.

SAMUEL ROTH, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

THIEF-IPROOF SATCHEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ic. 1., 13.73 L

Appmatinn med meest 7, 1913. semi No. 783,462.

the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the seme.

This invention 'relates to hand baggage, such as satchels, suit cases,and the like, and with particular reference to the use of such articlesfor carrying coin, currency, or ether valuables.

Many bold robberies of bank messengers have recently occurred where themessen ger was assaulted and the money bag torn from his grasp afterwhich the highwaylnen succeeded in making e successful escape, and itwas in order to defect any such attempt in the future that my inventionwes conceived.

l am aware that carrying cases have been heretofore patented which givean audible alarm when such cases were lifted from the floor or groundein/conversely Nl/ien they wer'e placed on the ground, thus attractingthe attention of persons in the immediate neighberhood, but sischdevices would be entirely inadequate to defeat the attempts at robberymentioned.

My device consists primarily in a carry ing cese containing a suitablealarm adapted to be sounded the moment thc ease was taken from the handof the person carryirfr it or if he should drop the same upon being?.assaulted, which alarm is inaccessible yto env person whereby ltheoperation thereon might be prevented, and which are adapted eo be set byauthorized persons, as in bunks, and then secured against tampering,previous to the delivery thereolt to a messenger.

My invention is fully set forth in the fol lowing specification, ofwhich the aerompanying i'irawings forni a' part, in which the seperateparts are designated by the saine reference characters in each of theviews, and in which Figure lv is an elevation of a wie cese constructedin accordance with my inven tion and showing' one form of einbraiiincntthereof set for actien and in carrying condi tion; Fig. 2 is anenlarged, fregmentary, View of the alarm prevention means; Fig.

3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig, envi Fig. 4 an enla-rv el,fragmentary, View one form of alarm which l may employ.

In the drawings forming a part el? bis ayplication l have sheen a suitease a e? se the usuel or any other desired eonstzerfion with theexception ofv the handle e2 ml is made hollow and provided with e dooradapted to be locked by meu a key 14 t sei-d handle is also primi withscrih under side of which ist u, it closed s". :l

lock li" th 'liste/d. trap door en the normal spring .ose the seine .andif o provide .oereby it may n means of a` key in :.liorized person, ands noo" fn the inner sul@ mw., ge.. i'on to e plate im the handie., thisdoor being; the mein f` are ci my invention as will ne later espn,

fithin the case c., preferably in e suitable compartment c is anelectric bell circuit c2 the switch c3 or', which is adapted to beclosed by means of a spring c* and which gamin@ meile detach..e, and lprovide a .i 0"" in connection with said switch hfifv'ing a loop on theother end th .Y adapted to engage the hook 703. I also r vide aconz'sartment d, identical with c e: etherwise, in which I arrange apistol revolver, eretici-ably the latter, in icate. al?, the tri of'which is admiten Le actuated by means of a leef '73 carried lv', drinnd4 actuated by means of a swrinjf. rotarily, in the direction cf the :ii leali beingl adepted to ectnate 51' trigger successively', if desired,within limits thereof, and said leaf is n held in captivity by means ofay dog 'z mally actuated to release the same fren leaf by ineens off aspring' d?, ein? dog prov d with n cfrffi al in cc or p, r'i

connected therewith, whiehfspring may be of any desired formation rvand,when the door b is thus set by such authorized person, the messengergrasps the handle of the case in such manner as to prevent, `by means ofhis fingers, the action of said door b to close', -whcreby said cordsprevent the closing of the bell circuit and the operation of therevolver actuating mechanism asl longr as the hand of the messengerremains in the holding position, which-is the -norma-l carryingposition, but the instant the messenger releases his grasp of the handleof the case he likewise releases the trap door b and thus allows saiddoor to close through the actionof the spring connected therewith aswell as through the action of the springs C* andl d?, whereby said doorin its closing carries the loops of the cords c5 vand d8 against theplate b4 which serves to instantly release said cords from the hook b3with the result that the springs c4 and al7 are immediately operative topermit the operation of their respective alarms, and this result obtainsas soon as themessenger releases his hold on the handle of the casebecause of his release of the trap door b, and, as the action of thecord releasing means is very rapid said alarms become operative and allpersons in the neighborhood are notified of an attempt at robbery.

I do not seek to confine myself to any specific alarms nor, indeed, toany specific actuating mechanism, my invention consisting, as previouslystated, in a carrying case adapted to sound an alarm as soon as theproper person carrying the same releases his hold thereon, and whichalarm actuating means are maintained in inoperative state by such properperson, whether the .person carrying the same voluntarily releases thesame or does so under violence.

I have adopted the door b as the most effective means now occurring tome for putting my invention into practice, but many methods may suggestthemselves other than this which will be just as operative andprotective, my main object being to avoid the possibility of anunauthorized perton seizing the case in any manner without notice toothers that such seizure has occurred.

My alarm is, so far as I have at present developed the' same, an audibleone whereby persons in the neighborhood may be apprised of a criminalattempt, but there is no necessity for confining myself to an audiblealarm as many other forms of alarm may eventually be utilized to make myinventi'on eifective under varying circumstances.

Having fully described my invention, what I.claim as new, and desire'tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a Satchel -provided with a handle, of an alarmmechanism, a door on said handle lmaintained in open position by thehand of a carrier. means in operative connection with said door andalarm mechanism for making the latter inoperative, and means, forclosing saiddoor to permit the actuation of said alarm mechanism uponthe release of said handle by said carrier.

1 2. The combination with a Satchel provided with a handle, of an alarmmechanism, a door on said handle normally maintained in open position bythe hand of a carrier, a'L spring for closing said door, and a cord'engaged by said door when in open position and with said alarmmechanism for making the latter inoperative, said cord permitting `theactuation of said alarm mechanism when ysaid door is released by thecarrier.

The combination with a Satchel provided withl a handle, of an alarmmechanism, an element for making said 4alarm mechanism inoperative, aspring secured at one end-ofsaid elementV for withdrawing said elementtopermit the operation of said alarm mechanism, a cord connected with saidelement and holding said element against withdrawal, and a door on saidhandle maintained in open position by the hand of a carrier, said cordbeing connected with said door whereby, on the release of said door bythe carrier, said spring Withdraws said element to permit actuation ofsaid alarmmechansm.

4. The combination with a Satchel provided with a handle, of an alarmmechanism, a door on said handle maintained in open position by the handof` a carrier. means in operative connection with said door and alarmmechanism for making the latter inoperative, means for closing said doorto permit the actuation of said alarm mechanism upon the release of saiddoor by said carrier, and a lock forsaid door.

In testimony that I lclaim the foregoing as my invention I have signedmy name 1n presence of the subscribing witnesses this 5th day of August1913.

` SAMUEL ROTH. Witnesses:

Ro'r. B. ABBoTr, J. C. LARsEN.

